The instant invention is directed to a container with a reusable lid or container cover that has a substantially airtight seal and wherein the cover can be reused with a new container body when the previous container body becomes empty.
There are a number of different cover and container combinations disclosed in the prior art. Typically a cover is attached to the rim of a container; see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,145,088. As noted in U.S. Pat. No. 5,145,088, a cover may consist of a central plate and a peripheral flange defining a U-shaped cross-section having two arms, namely an outer and inner arm, each of which are joined by a segment. The inner arm is, in turn, joined to the central plate, and thus the periphery of the cover snaps onto a matching rim of a container. As further pointed out in U.S. Pat. No. 5,145,088, although this combination is in wide-spread use, this design has a drawback that the cover is sometimes difficult to remove from or reattach to a container.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,145,088 further describes an improved cover that snaps onto the matching rim of a container or dish, having the additional features of a segment that joins the inner and outer arms of the U-shaped cross-section of the peripheral flange wherein, the joining segment includes a slit which extends around substantially the entire periphery of the flange thereby defining two mutually opposite lips. Associated with the slit are a plurality of narrow tab portions which connect the two lips. U.S. Pat. No. 5,145,088 also describes a cover that includes a griping tab which is integral with the lip connected to the inner arm of the U-shaped cross section, and is thus connected to the central plate. On the side opposite the lip having the gripping tab are hinge segments connecting the two lips. Although this structure purports to overcome difficulties associated with the prior art, the structure disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,145,088 constitutes a cover that is "snapped" onto the matching rim of a container, known as "top-loading". Thus, the disclosed construction has certain drawbacks associated with cover removal from and cover reattachment to a container.